The Ashes: Days to go

6

The number of Test matches involving England and Australia in which both captains have scored centuries.

It has happened on five occasions in England but only once in Australia, when Allan Border and Mike Gatting both reached three figures in a draw at Adelaide in 1986-87.

It first happened at Lord’s in 1930, when Bill Woodfull, who contributed 155 to Australia’s first-innings total of 729 for six declared, and England’s Percy Chapman both recorded hundreds.

The next two occurrences (Walter Hammond/Donald Bradman in 1938 and Lindsay Hassett/Leonard Hutton in 1953) also took place at Lord’s.

The only other instances both arose at Old Trafford: Bobby Simpson and Ted Dexter in 1964 and, of course, Michael Vaughan and Ricky Ponting last year.

7

The number of sixes hit by England’s Kevin Pietersen against Australia in his match-saving (and Ashes-winning) innings of 158 at the Oval in the fifth Test of the 2005 series.

It is the highest number of sixes scored in one innings by a batsman from either side in the 311 Test matches between England and Australia. Given that the Ashes were very much in the balance while he was launching his onslaught, it was an even more astonishing achievement by Pietersen.

The previous record, of six sixes in an innings, was held by Ian Botham, who, on an unforgettable Saturday afternoon at Old Trafford in 1981 – and again with the Ashes in the balance – charged from five to 118 in 70 balls, at one time smashing Dennis Lillee for 19 in one over.

8

The number of hat-tricks that have been taken in Test matches between England and Australia, four by each side.

Australia’s Fred 'The Demon’ Spofforth became the first bowler to achieve the feat (in only the third Test match played) when he dismissed Vernon Royle, Francis MacKinnon and Tom Emmett at Melbourne in 1878-79, a game Australia won by 10 wickets.

The other three Australian hat-tricks have been taken by Hugh Trumble (in 1901-02 and again in 1903-04) and Shane Warne (1994-95).

The four Englishmen to take three wickets in three balls against Australia are Billy Bates (1882-83), Johnny Briggs (1891-92), Jack Hearne (his hat-trick of 1899 is the only one of the eight to be taken on English soil) and Darren Gough (1998-99).

9

The number of Test centuries that Walter Hammond scored against Australia, a figure that has been beaten only by Jack Hobbs among Englishmen.

Hammond, who played in 33 Ashes Tests, scored 2,852 runs against Australia at an average of 51.85, with his highest individual score being the 251 he made at Sydney in 1928/29. It was a series in which he accumulated 905 runs, a series aggregate that has been surpassed by Donald Bradman alone in Test history.

Hammond also scored three other double-centuries against Australia, and his overall haul of seven Test match double-hundreds has been exceeded only by Bradman and Brian Lara.

In a 31-year career, the right-handed Hammond scored 50,551 first-class runs and recorded 167 centuries.

10

The number of Test match double-hundreds scored by English batsmen against Australia.

The first to do so was Tip Foster, who scored 287 (still the highest score by an Englishman in Australia) on his Test debut, at Sydney in 1903.

Foster, who played in eight Tests, is also the only person to captain England at cricket and football. Wally Hammond recorded four Test double-hundreds against Australia, the highest being his 251 at Sydney in 1928.

Len Hutton's 364, at the Oval in 1938, remains the highest innings by an Englishman against Australia while Ken Barrington, Eddie Paynter, David Gower and Nasser Hussain also passed 200 against the old enemy. Australian batsmen have scored 23 double-hundreds against England.

11

The number of Anglo-Australian Test matches that have been drawn since England, under the captaincy of Mike Gatting in 1986-87, last won the Ashes in Australia.

In the intervening period, the two countries have played each other in a total of 49 Tests, with Australia winning 29 and England just nine.

Of the 160 Tests played by the two old adversaries on Australian soil, there have been a total of just 26 draws, with Australia winning 80 and England 54.

Since the 1970-71 series, when four of the six Tests were drawn (England won the other two to regain the urn), no Ashes series Down Under has produced more than two draws.

In England, by contrast, as many as 62 of the 151 Tests between the two adversaries have been drawn, with England winning 43 and Australia 46.

12

The number of Test centuries scored by Jack Hobbs against Australia, the most by an Englishman in Anglo-Australia Tests.

Only Don Bradman, who scored 19 hundreds against England, has reached three figures more often between the two countries.

Between 1908 and 1930, Hobbs played in 41 Tests against Australia, accumulating 3,636 runs (an aggregate exceeded only by Bradman between the two nations) at an average of 54.26 and including a highest score of 187, at Adelaide in 1912.

In 61 Tests, Hobbs made 5,410 runs at an average of 56.94 and his first-class run aggregate of 61,237, which encompassed 197 first-class centuries, are records that will, almost certainly, never be beaten.

13

The number of venues that have hosted an England-Australia Test.

Melbourne Cricket Ground and Sydney Cricket Ground have hosted the most (52 matches each) while the Exhibition Ground, Brisbane, and Bramall Lane, Sheffield, played host to one game each.

In England, the most used venues have been the Oval (34) and Lord’s (33).

The Oval is also the most successful ground for England, where they have won 15 Tests there to Australia’s six. The only other regular venue where England have won more than Australia is Edgbaston, where they have won five times to Australia’s three.

In all, the two countries have played each other in 311 Tests, with Australia having won 126 and England 97.

There have been 88 draws.

14

The number of English wickets that Fred 'The Demon’ Spofforth took in a Test at the Oval in August 1882 to help Australia to a seven-run victory.

It was their first against England in England and created the legend of the Ashes. After Australia had been dismissed for 63 on a difficult pitch, Spofforth claimed seven for 46 to restrict England to 101 and took seven for 44 in the second innings as the home side, requiring just 85 for victory, were shot out for 77.

Four days later, on Sept 2, The Sporting Times carried a mock obituary, written by Reginald Brooks, lamenting the death of English cricket and stating that “the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia”.

Spofforth played in 18 Tests against England, taking 94 wickets at an average of 18.41.

15

The number of Australian wickets that Hedley Verity, the great Yorkshire left-arm spinner, took in the Lord's Test of 1934 to help England to victory by an innings and 38 runs.

It remains the only occasion that Australia have lost a Test to England at Lord's since 1896, though the touring side won the five-match series 2-1 to regain the Ashes.

Verity was irresistible on a rain-affected pitch, taking seven for 61 in the first innings and then eight for 43 after Australia had followed on.

He claimed 14 for 80 on the third and final day, which is still the most wickets taken by a bowler in one day in a Test match.

Verity, whose final first-class analysis was 6-1-9-7against Sussex at Hove on Sept 1, 1939, died as a POW in Italy in July 1943, having been wounded in an Eighth Army attack in Sicily.

16

The number of English wickets that Australian swing bowler Bob Massie took at Lord's on his Test debut in 1972.

A right-arm bowler who could cut and swing the ball both ways, Massie took eight for 84 and eight for 53 to help his country to an eight-wicket victory, although England would retain the Ashes by drawing the series 2-2.

Only Jim Laker and Sydney Barnes have ever taken more than 16 wickets in a Test match, but Massie's star fell as rapidly as it had risen. He claimed only seven wickets in the remaining three Tests and eight wickets in two Tests against Pakistan the following season to finish with a career haul of 31 wickets in six Tests.

Within 18 months of his startling Test debut, Massie had been dropped by Western Australia, his state side.

17

The number of Test matches in which Darren Gough played for England against Australia.

England’s most potent strike bowler since Bob Willis and Ian Botham, Gough took 74 wickets, at an average of 30.81 apiece, against Australia in a period when Australian domination against England was almost absolute.

At 5ft 11in, 'Dazzler’ was short for a modern-day fast bowler but mixed up his pace intelligently and became England’s first and finest exponent of reverse swing.

He also remains the last player to have taken a hat-trick in an England-Australia Test (and the first Englishman to do so in an Ashes Test since Jack Hearne at Leeds in 1899), having dismissed Ian Healy, Stuart MacGill and Colin 'Funky’ Miller with successive balls at Sydney in 1998-99.

18

The number of runs by which England beat Australia at Headingley in 1981, after following on 227 runs behind and then collapsing to 135 for seven in their second innings.

Ladbrokes, from their tent on the ground, at one stage quoted an England victory at odds of 500/1.

The remarkable turnaround was instigated by Ian Botham, who slogged an unbeaten 149 on a difficult pitch, though the contributions of Graham Dilley, Chris Old and Bob Willis were also crucial as England added 221 for the last three wickets.

Still, Australia required only 130 to win and were handily placed on 56 for one until Bob Willis bowled England to victory with a devastating return of eight for 43.

It was only the second time in Test history that a team had won after following on and England went on to win the series 3-1, having been on the cusp of going 2-0 down.

19

The number of wickets that Jim Laker, the England off-spinner, took in the Ashes Test at Old Trafford in 1956.

To this day, no bowler has taken more than 17 wickets in a first-class game, let alone in a Test match.

On a pitch that was heavily marked and almost devoid of grass, Laker took nine for 37 in the first innings and 10 for 53 in the second, to finish with match figures of 19 for 90.

By comparison, Tony Lock, the left-arm spinner, bowled 69 overs in the game – which England won by an innings and 170 runs – and took just one Australian wicket.

Laker finished the five-match rubber with 46 wickets (the most in an Anglo-Australian series) at an average of 9.60 and England retained the Ashes with a 2-1 margin. Overall, Laker took 193 wickets in 46 Tests.

20

The number of Test matches that Australian batsman Bill Ponsford played against England.

The only player in the history of cricket to twice score 400 or more in a first-class innings until Brian Lara equalled the feat in 2004, Ponsford made 110 on his Test debut, against England at Sydney in December 1924, and 128 at Melbourne in the second match of a rubber that Australia won 4-1.

The right-handed opener failed, relatively, in the 1926, 1928-29 and 1932-33 Ashes series but averaged 55.00 against England in 1930 and 94.83 in 1934.

'Ponny', who scored 1,558 Test runs against the old enemy at an average of 47.21, recorded his highest Test score of 266, at the Oval in 1934, in his final Test.

21

The number of Test matches Australian fast bowler Jeff Thomson played against England.

The former surf rider from the Sydney suburb of Bankstown made an inauspicious debut against Pakistan in 1972-73, when he recorded match figures of 0 for 110, though it was subsequently discovered he had played with a broken foot bone.

He returned to play in the first Test of the 1974-75 Ashes series and proceeded, in tandem with Dennis Lillee, to blow England away. Thomson, who missed the sixth Test through injury, took 33 wickets at an average of 17.93 as Australia won the series 4-1.

In total, he took 100 Test wickets against England at a cost of 24.18 each. "Maybe it's that 'tally-ho lads' attitude, but I never could cop Poms," Thomson famously remarked.

22

The age at which Leonard Hutton scored a then world-record Test score of 364 against Australia at the Oval in 1938.

Having made nought and one on his Test debut against New Zealand at Lord’s in 1937, he hit 100 in the next game at Old Trafford and never looked back.

His epic innings at the Oval, which spanned 13 hours and 17 minutes and surpassed Wally Hammond’s previous Test record of 336, allowed England to declare on 903 for seven.

The home side won the match by an innings and 579 runs to square the series 1-1, though Australia, who already 'held the urn’, retained the Ashes.

In 27 Tests against Australia, Hutton scored 2,428 runs at an average of 56.46 and was the England captain who won back the Ashes in the Coronation year of 1953.

23

The number of double-centuries that have been scored by Australian batsmen in Tests against England.

Billy Murdoch, who was captain at the time, scored the first (and the first in Test-match history) when he made 211 in a drawn game at the Oval in 1884.

Syd Gregory became the second by scoring 201 at Sydney in 1894-95, a match that was notable for the fact that England won after following on. It is Donald Bradman, however, who not surprisingly dominates the list.

The Don scored a Test double-hundred against England eight times in 63 innings, twice going on pass the 300 mark. The two most recent Australian double-centurions against England have been Allan Border (200 not out at Headingley in 1993) and Justin Langer (250 at Melbourne in 2002).

24

The number of Test matches that Stan McCabe played for Australia against England.

A right-hander from New South Wales, McCabe was one of Australia's most accomplished and enterprising batsmen, accumulating 1,931 runs against England at an average of 48.27.

In the first Test of the 1932-33 Bodyline Series, at Sydney, he made an unbeaten 187 in Australia's first-innings total of 360.

But it was at Trent Bridge in 1938 that he played one of the greatest Test innings of all, when he recorded an unbeaten 232 out of his side's first-innings total of 411, farming the strike and scoring at the rate of a run a minute.

Don Bradman called from the balcony to his colleagues in the dressing room: "Come out here, you may never see the like of this again."

25

The number of Tests that Glenn McGrath has played for Australia against England.

Having played only eight state games, the unerringly accurate right arm seam bowler was plucked from the New South Wales outback as a virtual unknown to replace Merv Hughes in the Australia side in 1993 and has now played in 119 Tests.

Against England, he has taken 136 wickets - a total bettered only by four other players in Anglo-Australian Tests - at an average of 20.47 and dismissed Michael Atherton in 19 of the 34 innings he bowled against him.

McGrath is the first Australian pace bowler to have won 100 Test caps and has taken a total of 542 Test wickets at 21.55 apiece.

His batting, a conspicuously weaker suit, has brought him 631 Test runs at an average of 7.51.

26

The number of Tests in which Australia have beaten England at Melbourne, the most victories by one side at any one ground in Anglo-Australian Tests.

England have won 19 times at Melbourne, but their most successful venue Down Under has been Sydney, where the visiting side have emerged triumphant in 21 Tests, as opposed to Australia’s 24.

Melbourne and Sydney have each hosted the most Tests (52) between the two countries while The Oval (34 Tests) and Lord’s (33 Tests) head the list in England.

Extraordinarily, England have beaten Australia at Lord’s only once since 1896 - and that was Hedley Verity’s match all the way back in 1934.

England’s most successful ground is The Oval, where they have won 15 times compared to Australia’s six.

27

The number of wickets that fell on the second day of the 1888 Lord’s Test between England and Australia, a Test record that still stands.

After a heavy overnight storm had prevented any play until the first afternoon, Australia were bowled out for 116 – which turned out to be the highest score of the game – before reducing England to 18 for three by the close.

With the pitch a virtual mud bath, England were shot out for 53 on the second morning whereupon Australia were dismissed for 60.

Requiring 124 to win, England were rolled over for 62 and lost the match, at 4.25pm on the second afternoon, by 61 runs.

In one day, 27 wickets had fallen at a cost of 157 runs. England, however, went on to win the series 2-1, thereby retaining the Ashes.

28

The number of dismissals made by Australia wicketkeeper Rod Marsh in the 1982-83 Ashes, a world record for a keeper in any Test series.

Marsh, who made a total of 355 dismissals in a 96-Test career, played in 42 Tests against England and made 148 dismissals (141 caught, seven stumped).

In that 1982/83 five-match series Down Under, which Australia won 2-1, the Western Australian took 28 catches, 16 of them off seam bowler Geoff Lawson and one off Dennis Lillee, who played in only the first Test. Overall, “c Marsh b Lillee” was a combination that accounted for 95 Test wickets.

Jack Russell snared 27 victims in England’s 1995-96 series in South Africa while Ian Healy also made 27 dismissals in the six-Test Ashes rubber of 1997.

29

The number of Test matches that Dennis Lillee played against England.

One of the finest of all fast bowlers — and possibly one of the most belligerent, too — Lillee took 167 wickets in Tests against England, a total that has been bettered only by Shane Warne in Anglo-Australian Tests.

Lillee returned match figures of 11 for 161 in the 1977 Centenary Test at Melbourne and took 39 wickets in the six-match series in England four years later.

For pure hostility, however, nothing could compare to the 1974/75 series Down Under where Lillee (25 wickets at 23.84) and Jeff Thomson proved to be one of the most fearsome fast-bowling partnerships in Test match history.

In all, Lillee took 355 Test wickets — a world record at the time — at an average of 23.92.

30

The number of Test matches that Ian Chappell played against England.

Though a less gifted batsman than his younger brother Greg, the no-nonsense Ian Chappell still accumulated a highly creditable total of 2,138 runs against England at an average of 41.11, as opposed to an overall Test average of 42.42.

But it was his resourceful and astute captaincy between 1971 and 1975 that helped transform a demoralised Australia into a side very much in his own hard-nosed image. He never lost a series as captain and was at the helm when Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson blew away Mike Denness' England by a 4-1 margin in 1974-75 to regain the Ashes.

Chappell led Australia in 16 Tests against England, winning seven and losing four.

32

The number of Test matches that the legendary Frank Woolley played against Australia, precisely half of the 64 he played overall.

Woolley was prolific as both a left-handed batsman and as an orthodox left-arm spinner in a 32-year career in which he amassed 58,969 first-class runs (second only to Jack Hobbs in the history of the game) and 2,068 wickets.

But the Kent all-rounder did not dominate in Tests against Australia as he might have done. In 51 innings, he scored 1,664 runs at an average of 33.28 and took 43 wickets at 36.16 apiece, although he did make his maiden Test century - one of only two he scored against Australia - in the fifth Test at Sydney in 1911/12.

He also took 1,018 first-class catches, mainly at slip, a record which remains unsurpassed.

33

The number of wickets that Nottinghamshire's Harold Larwood took in the infamous Bodyline series of 1932/33.

A fearsome fast bowler, the former pit-boy bowled to the instructions of Douglas Jardine, the England captain, and terrorised the Australian batsmen with a barrage of 'bumpers' to a packed leg-side field.

Larwood took his 33 victims at an average of 19.51 and claimed the wicket of Don Bradman, who averaged a mere 56 in the series, four times in eight innings. England won the series 4-1 but Larwood never played Test cricket again.

A gentle and modest man, he emigrated to Australia in 1950 and was awarded an MBE in 1993 before dying two years later at the age of 90.

34

The number of wickets that Ian Botham took in the classic1981 Ashes series, which England won 3-1.

The all-rounder, who also scored 399 runs, began the series as captain, but relinquished the role after losing the first Test at Trent Bridge and then bagging a pair in a draw at Lord's.

The selectors confirmed that Botham would have been sacked anyway. Retained as a player under Mike Brearley, Botham returned to form at Headingley, taking six for 95 in Australia's first innings and then smashing an unbeaten 149 to set up an 18-run victory.

He polished off Australia at Edgbaston by taking five for one in 28 balls, took five wickets and scored 118 at Old Trafford in another home triumph and finished the series by taking 10 wickets in a draw at the Oval.

35

The number of Tests that Greg Chappell played against England.

A tall, graceful right-hander, he was indubitably the outstanding Australian batsman of his generation, scoring 7,110 runs in 87 Tests between 1970 and 1984.

Against England, he accumulated 2,619 runs at an average of 45.94 – some way below his overall Test batting average of 53.86.

He led Australia in 48 Tests, winning 21 and losing only 13.

His captaincy record against England was: played 15, won 6, drew 5, lost 4.

Chappell also enjoyed the rare distinction of scoring a century on his Test debut (108 against England), in his first Test as captain (123 & 109 not out versus West Indies in 1975) and on his last Test appearance (182 against Pakistan).

36

The score that Australia mustered at Edgbaston in 1902, the lowest all-out total in Test matches between England and Australia.

In the first game of a five-match series - it was also the first Test ever staged at the Birmingham ground - England declared on 376 for nine on the second morning of the three-day Test and promptly dismissed Australia for 36 on a drying pitch.

Victor Trumper scored precisely half of the tourists’ runs while Wilfred Rhodes, the great Yorkshire left-arm spinner, took seven for 17.

Rain restricted play to 75 minutes on the final day and Australia escaped with a draw.

They went on to win the series by a 2-1 margin, though not before Yorkshire had bowled them out for 23 at Headingley in the game immediately after the Edgbaston Test.

37

The number of Tests that Australia's Donald Bradman played against England. In an international career that began in 1928 and finished in 1948, 'the Don' participated in a total of 52 Tests, meaning that only 15 were not against England.

He appeared in five Tests apiece against West Indies, South Africa and India – all of which were played in Australia. He therefore featured in an overseas Test only against England.

Indeed, he only ever played first-class cricket in Australia and England. Bradman's record against England was axiomatically second to none, although it was not as prolific as his overall Test record.

He scored 5,028 runs, at an average of 89.78, against England as opposed to a career Test average of 99.94.

38

The number of Tests that Geoffrey Boycott played against Australia. The Yorkshireman, who made 2,945 runs in those games at an average of 47.50, scored 657 runs in the 1970/71 series to help England regain the Ashes Down Under.

But nothing could match his achievements of 1977. Having missed 30 Tests through a self-imposed three-year exile, the right-handed opener returned for the third Test at Trent Bridge and promptly ran out Derek Randall, the local hero, before more than balancing the books with scores of 107 and 80 not out.

In the fourth Test, at his beloved Headingley, Boycott famously recorded his 100th first-class hundred as England won by an innings and 85 runs to regain the Ashes. Boycott made 191 – the biggest of his seven centuries against Australia.

39

The age at which Donald Bradman played his last Test innings, against England at the Oval in August 1948. Australia had already retained the Ashes by winning three of the first four Tests when the two teams met in the fifth and final match of the series.

With Ray Lindwall having claimed six for 20 to help the Invincibles dismantle England for a meagre 52, the Don walked to the wicket for what would be his final Test innings after Sid Barnes and Arthur Morris added 117 for the first wicket.

Bradman, who required just four runs to ensure a Test batting average of 100, was dismissed for a second-ball duck by an Eric Hollies googly and so finished with a Test average of 99.94. Australia won the match by an innings and 149 runs and the series by a thumping 4-0 margin.

40

The number of Test innings that Graham Gooch played against Australia before he scored a century.

After making his Test debut in 1975 with a pair, against Australia on a spiteful pitch at Edgbaston, Gooch was on the verge of his maiden Test hundred (against any country) on the 1979/80 tour to Australia when he was run out for 99 at Melbourne.

He finally reached three figures against West Indies in 1980, but it was to be another five years before Gooch did so against Australia, making 196 at the Oval.

The Essex batsman scored three further centuries against Australia, but his record against them was comparatively poor. He averaged 33.31 in 79 Test innings against the old enemy, as opposed to a career Test average of 42.58.

41

The number of wickets that Bill Voce took in 11 Test matches against Australia.

At his zenith, Voce was the best fast left-arm bowler in the world and proved to be the perfect foil for Harold Larwood, his Nottinghamshire colleague, in the infamous Bodyline series of 1932-33. Though he was a touch slower than Larwood, Voce's line from over the wicket and his extra bounce made him a formidable proposition. His role in that series was to maintain pressure, and he did so admirably, taking 15 wickets in four Tests (missing the fifth through injury).

On the 1936-37 tour, Voce fared even better, taking 17 wickets in the first two Tests, at Brisbane and Sydney – both of which England won – and finishing the series with 26 victims, more than anyone else on either side.

42

The haul of wickets that Terry Alderman took in the 1981 Ashes series, the most by an Australian in a series against England.

A right-arm fast-medium swing and off-cutter bowler with outstanding control and a ready smile, Alderman took 42 wickets in the six-game series at an average of 21.26.

His match figures of nine for 130, on his Test debut, steered Australia to a four-wicket victory at Trent Bridge in the first match of the series, though an inspirational Ian Botham would eventually help England to win 3-1.

Alderman pulled out of the 1985 Ashes tour to join a rebel tour to South Africa, but was once again at his accurate best on the 1989 tour to England, taking 41 wickets at 17.36 apiece and reducing Graham Gooch to virtual impotence.

43

The number of runs that Bob Willis conceded while taking eight second-innings Australian wickets in an unforgettable Test at Headingley in 1981.

In the third game of a six-match series, England were on the cusp of going 2-0 down before an astonishing innings by Ian Botham, who slogged an unbeaten 149 from 148 balls, enabled the home side to recover from 135 for seven to 356 in their second innings.

Even then, Australia required just 130 for victory and seemed set fair to win, on 56 for one, before Willis blew away Trevor Chappell, Kim Hughes and Graham Yallop in rapid succession to reduce the tourists to 58 for four.

Willis’ final figures were 15.1-3-43-8, England won the match by 18 runs and went on to win the series 3-1.

44

The number of runs that Australia scored at the Oval while losing their last seven first-innings wickets against England in the fifth and final Test of last year's Ashes series.

Having restricted England to 373, Australia were odds-on to claim a potentially decisive first-innings lead towards a win that would have tied the series at 2-2 and seen them retain the Ashes.

From 323 for three, however, Ricky Ponting's side collapsed to 367 all out, with Matthew Hoggard finishing off the innings by taking four for four from 19 balls.

An Australian victory was still a possibility before Kevin Pietersen, who smashed a memorable 158, and Ashley Giles guided England from the uncertainty of 199 from seven to the security of 308 for eight.

The match was drawn and the Ashes were England's.

45

Australia's winning margin against England in the 1977 Centenary Test at Melbourne – a one-off match that commemorated 100 years of Test cricket.

After being put in, Australia were dismissed for just 138 before England were bundled out for an even more paltry 95, Dennis Lillee taking six for 26.

With the match having looked as if it might be over in three days, Australia declared at 419 for nine in their second innings to leave England an unlikely 463 to win.

But a marvellous innings of 174 by the irrepressible Derek Randall offered England a scent of victory before they were eventually all out for 417.

By an extraordinary coincidence, 45 runs was also Australia's winning margin when the two teams had played in that very first Test a century earlier.

46

The number of Test matches that Steve Waugh played against England.

In 73 innings, Waugh, who batted almost exclusively in the lower middle order, scored 3,200 runs - a total surpassed only by Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Jack Hobbs, Allan Border and David Gower in Anglo-Australian Tests - hit 10 centuries and averaged 58.18.

In the 1989 Ashes series in England, he scored 393 runs before being dismissed and played in a record 168 Test matches overall, during which time his medium-paced bowling was good enough to earn him 92 wickets. But his catharsis arrived in 1991 when he was dropped in favour of Mark, his younger twin, after which he minimalised his batting approach to such an extent that he forsook almost all risk.

The left-handed Border took over the captaincy of a struggling Australia from a tearful Kim Hughes in 1984/85 and scored 597 runs in the 1985 series in England at an average of 66.33, including a match-winning 196 at Lord's.

Border led Australia in 93 Tests and his record against England was: played 29, won 13, drew 10, lost 6. Border played in a then record 156 Test matches and scored 11,174 runs, a record that has been subsequently eclipsed by Brian Lara.

48

The number of times that Mike Gatting batted in 27 Tests against Australia.

Gatting scored 1,661 runs against the old enemy at an average of 37.75 and made four centuries, with the first and highest of those being the 160 he recorded in a drawn game at Old Trafford in 1985.

It was also at Lancashire's home ground that Gatting was bowled by the "ball of the century" from Shane Warne in the 1993 Ashes contest there. It was Warne's first delivery in an Ashes Test and spun so prodigiously from outside leg stump to clip the top of off that Gatting stood there, seemingly stunned, before trudging back to the pavilion shaking his head.

Gatting led England in 23 of his 79 Test matches and remains the last England captain to win a Test series in Australia.

49

The age of James Southerton when he became the oldest player to make his Test match debut – a record, it can be safely assumed, that will never be eclipsed.

Southerton, a short and sturdy round-arm bowler, was 49 years and 119 days old when he made his international bow for England against Australia, at Melbourne, on March 15, 1877, in the first Test match ever played.

The Sussex-born Southerton, who was also a handy middle-order batsman and a reliable slip fielder, had previously played for three counties – Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire – in the same season, before stricter qualification rules came into force.

Southerton played in his second and final Test a fortnight after his first and later became, at the age of 52, the first Test cricketer to die.